Spring break trip to New Orleans is focus of lunchtime talk
—By Kendall Davis
Most twenty-somethings head straight to Cancun or Florida for spring break.
The members of the law school’s Legal Aid Alternative Breaks Project do something a little different, and a little more rewarding. For the third year in a row, a group of USC Law students traveled to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast to provide free legal aid and other assistance to residents affected by hurricanes.
A line of residents seeking federal Section 8 housing assistance |
“What New Orleans brought to me was stories of hope, faith and community that I have never experienced in any other place,” said 3L Andy Miller, student advisor to the project.
“It was these trips that have made law school a defining period of my life. I will be more than a better lawyer because of these opportunities, and I feel that I understand what it takes to be a better person and to do my part to form a better community.”
Best described as a “student service experience,” the trip is initiated by students and for students as a way to practice hands-on public service.
The LAAB project was launched in 2006, when concerned USC Law students organized a trip to the north Gulf Coast region to provide aid for victims and displaced residents of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The group returned in 2007, and made a third visit during this year’s spring break in March.
Students volunteered at a Sierra Club clean-up |
Those who made the trip have posted a number of blog entries about the experience. Read more on the LAAB website.
Students also displayed photos from the Spring Break trip during the week of March 31 to April 4 in the east lobby of the law school. To request access to a full online gallery of photos, contact LAAB.
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An abandoned apartment building in New Orleans' 9th Ward | A levee that collapsed after Hurricane Katrina has since been repaired |
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USC Law students helped Gulf Coast homeowners with home repairs | This New Orleans school remains damaged and abandoned |